[Children’s Day Hand-Play Songs] A Collection of Nursery Rhymes & Traditional Children’s Songs for Parents and Kids to Enjoy Together

Horn, horn, hoooorn!

♪ Tuno-Tuno-Tu-no (Tsuno-Tsuno-Tu-no) <Tsubasa Suzuki & Sho Fukuda × Bonbon Academy Collaboration> Tsuno-Tsuno-Tu-no, one horn~ ♪ [Hand Play / Children’s Play Song]

This is a hand play song full of unique ideas where you make horns on your head and play.

It was created in collaboration by Icchi & Naru from BonBon Academy and children’s song writers Tsubasa Suzuki and Sho Fukuda.

It’s included on the album “Hajimaru! Hajimaru!” released in July 2024.

While using your fingers to represent horns, you have fun imitating movements like stretching and sleeping.

The key point is to strike a pose together at the end and deliver a playful comeback.

On Children’s Day, pretend to be a strong animal and move your body with lots of energy!

Zebra SwirlSakushi: Endou Kouzou / Sakkyoku: Inui Hiroki

[With Mother] Zebra Guruguru | Popular Kids' Song Sung by a Nursery Teacher: Children's Songs

With the balmy weather in May, it’s the perfect season for a fun trip to the zoo! A great recommendation for times like these is a delightful hand-play song themed around zebra stripes.

Written by Kozo Endo and composed by Hiroki Inui, this piece is full of unique wordplay in which you whirl and peel off the zebra’s stripes and transform it into another animal.

The song began being featured around 1982 on NHK’s children’s program “Okaasan to Issho,” and it was also included on a CD released in March 2000, making it a long-loved favorite across generations.

It’s great fun to mimic the motions of taking off and putting on the stripes to the lively rhythm! Whether on the bus ride to the zoo or during time at home, singing it together as a parent and child and laughing yourselves silly could be just the thing!

five melon breads

[Finger Play] Five Melon Buns (with actions) [Takashi’s Hand Play & Children’s Song] Japanese Children’s Song, Finger Play Songs

When it comes to classic make-believe shop games, it’s got to be the bakery! This piece is a hand-play song that lets you enjoy shopping at a bakery.

Based on an English children’s game song, Hirotaka Nakagawa wrote the Japanese lyrics.

You can play it as a countdown using your fingers to reduce the number.

It was included on albums such as “CD Twin: Nakayoshi Asobi Uta — Songs Sung in Nursery School and Kindergarten,” released in February 2006.

The fun point is watching the delicious breads sell out one after another until there are none left! Try becoming a parent-and-child bakery duo and play it during snack time on Children’s Day!

Elephant and Spiderweb

Elephant and the Spiderweb (with gestures) – One little elephant on a spider’s web ~ [Japanese songs / school songs]

This is a hand-play song depicting a truly unique scene: an elephant playing on a thin thread.

The way it keeps calling in friends one after another, increasing the number of participants, heightens the children’s sense of anticipation.

Plus, with the twist ending where the thread finally snaps, kids can enjoy a story-like thrill all the way through.

The original is a playground song from the English-speaking world, and in Japan it was included in a collection of children’s songs released in March 2000, remaining beloved for many years.

Be sure to join voices with a big group and get everyone excited together!

Close It, Open It

Musunde Hiraite [Mama and Papa of Songs] – Nursery Rhyme, Hand Play, With Mother

A quintessential hand-play song that everyone knows, where you have fun by clenching and opening your hands or clapping.

In fact, this familiar melody originates from Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s opera Le Devin du village, first performed in October 1752.

In Japan, it spread after being included in the 1881 publication Shogaku Shoka-shu: First Volume, and it has long been loved while its lyrics and uses have evolved.

Rather than being a hit tied to a particular singer, its greatest “tie-in” has been its adoption in education—through textbooks and early childhood materials.

Since it’s easy for even small children to imitate, it’s perfect for family time on Children’s Day.

Child of Abraham

Abraham’s Song♪ | Hand Play | Nursery Rhyme | Babies Love It | With Choreography | Dance | Kids | UtaSta Clap Clap |

This is a delightful hand-play song that has been loved for many years in kindergartens, nurseries, camps, and more.

The body parts you move—right hand, left hand, right foot, left foot—are added one by one in order, and its greatest charm is that by the end you’re shaking your head and bottom too, turning it into a full-body workout.

Originally a foreign song, it became widely known in Japanese households when a record sung by Masato Shimon was released in June 1979.

As the movements get more and more energetic, both children and adults will find themselves laughing together.

For Children’s Day family time, be sure to give it a try with everyone!

Upward eyes, downward eyes

♪Upward eyes, downward eyes <with gestures> - ♪Upward eyes, downward eyes, spin all around [Japanese song/children’s song] (Covered by UtaSuta)

It’s a simple play song where you move facial features with your fingers.

You can change the shape of the eyes using your fingers and, at the end, twirl your fingers to imitate a cat, enjoying the shifting expressions.

Since being included in a song collection published in April 1926, it has been loved for many years.

Thanks to its familiarity, it has also been commercialized as a picture book, such as in Gakken’s “Shikake Uta Ehon” series.

With a beginning, development, turn, and conclusion packed into short phrases, it’s perfect for capturing children’s attention or providing a quick change of pace.